As the retail industry continues to become more competitive, customer satisfaction is of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining customers. Customer satisfaction depends on a variety of factors such as a customer's perception of price, product availability, well-stocked shelves, ease of finding products within a retail store, cleanliness of the store, and friendliness of employees.
However, perhaps the most important factor regarding customer satisfaction is customer service. Of primary concern with regard to customer service is the amount of time a customer must wait when requiring assistance from a store employee. This includes, for example, time spent waiting for assistance at a customer service counter, at a merchandise counter and, of course, time spent waiting in check-out lanes. Generally speaking, the less time spent waiting for assistance, the more satisfied the customer.